Monday, December 30, 2013

My New Year Resolutions

The tradition when facing the New Year is to reflect on that will help take you to the next step, and to consider the things you'd like to get done. The New Year Resolution is really just a marker in time; there's no reason you must make resolutions at the start of a calendar, but after having reflected on my previous year, now is a good time for me to evaluate the things I'd like to improve next year:

1. Write more often

When I first started this blog in 2008, I used it as a new way to communicate and keep everyone informed, following a realignment in the Office of Information Technology when my organization suddenly became much larger. I posted occasional announcements and kudos, and a few encouraging notes on leadership development. Over time, I shifted the focus of my blog to leadership and vision in IT and higher ed, and posted more regularly, about once a week. But the more I write, the better I get at writing. I'd like to expand on that, and try writing new posts at least three times a week. That's an ambitious goal, but do-able. I may eventually work my way to every day, but for now I'll aim for new posts every Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

2. Exercise my Do

Like many of us who work in IT, I got my start by doing some "hands on" work with technology. Some of this was learned in a professional setting, some skills were picked up on the job, and others were self-taught. I sometimes miss that part of IT, and I just need to recognize that while I need to balance Lead-Manage-Do at work, it's okay to exercise my Do on my own time. I do a lot of work in open source software, and that's where I expext to apply most of my Do time. It's a good outlet, and I find it lets me focus more on Lead and Manage when I'm in the office.

3. Graduate

As you may know, I am currently in a M.S. program in Scientific & Technical Communication. My capstone project is "The Usability of Open Source Software" (follow me at Open Source Software & Usability). This program has been a wonderful experience. To be sure, it's sometimes been difficult to balance classwork and home life with my full-time responsibilities as IT Director, but I have learned a lot from it and thoroughly enjoyed many of my classes. I will graduate in May, 2014. Wish me luck!